Is it Love or Death?
by Spoiled Rotten Princess Kitty
Summary: I've been subjected to a curse for just under 600 years now. But suddenly, I find myself being coveted for both sides of a war that I have no interest in. I just want to break my curse and go live my life.
1. Prologue

I have adopted this from an author by the penname of Beheaded Gothic Emo Ghost Girl elsewhere on this site. Her lovely story has been abandoned, but, with her kind permission, I am now bringing life to it. Please enjoy.

If you spot any errors, please let me know, as it's unedited. –Kitty

* * *

Salutations. My name is Paige Lane, but that is only the name I have adopted as of late. Other people might know me by other names. The name my mother gave me when I was pushed from her womb was Jeannette.

The story behind my birth is nothing special, especially of the time that I was born. I was born in the year 1399, so like everyone else, I was born at home, with only a midwife to pull me out into the world.

The midwife, an old woman by the name of Mary, was the only woman who would help my mother after she ostracized the entire town doing witchcraft when she was pregnant with me. Before she became pregnant with me, my mother had lost five children before they'd even been born. The towns people said that it was because she was a sinner, and that was the reason why she'd lost the children. If there was any real reason that caused my mother's other babies to abort themselves in utero, I cannot say. She did not live long enough to tell me, and Mary certainly never said anything of the subject.

My mother, in her desperate attempt to carry one child to full term, turned towards the dark magics to help her and her unborn child. In the process, the entire town shunned her. Mary came knocking on her door when her water broke and then pulled me screaming into the world. My mother lived long enough to name me.

Mary raised me as best as she could. I think, somehow, she saw the magic inside of me. For you see, like Mary, I, too, was a witch. Gifted in both the healing white magics, and the deathly black magics. Mary taught me everything that I needed to know.

We lived in a small cottage in the middle of the forest. No one hardly seemed to remember that we were there. We practiced our craft only at night, and only when we were certain that no one was around. We were not afraid of who we were, but rather, our fear steamed from the things that the townspeople did to "witches".

Mary and I managed to live our lives for eighteen years undetected and unnoticed by the townspeople. We only went into town for needed supplies, and then, we kept our heads down and our opinions to ourselves. I was just another girl, one of thousands, and Mary was an old woman, one of thousands, as well. We were forgettable in the crowded market place.

But, the night of my 18th birthday, it was a full moon. Mary and I disrobed and stepped out into the meadow near our cottage to preform a sacred ritual in the light of the moon.

We were halfway through the ritual when a shot rang out in the dark. I gasped, looking around in the light for Mary.

"Mary!" I screamed, rushing to the point where she had been standing.

"No, child! Do not break the sacred circle open!" Mary cried out.

"Witches!" someone shouted in the dark. "I shot her in the chest and yet she still lives!" People were flooding into the meadow and I felt them pause at the barrier that we had set up. It hadn't protected Mary from the bullet, so it was likely that it wouldn't last long against all of them.

Another shot rang out and it felt like I was being doused with fire. "...Mary..." I whispered, looking down at my chest. There was a hole, and I was bleeding. A lot. Too much to survive. I shouldn't have remained alive.

"Jeannette..." Mary coughed. "I will use the last of my power to save you."

"No! Mary! Please! Save yourself!"

"Jean, you are young, beautiful and much more powerful than I will ever be." Mary grabbed my hand and I held on for dear life. "I don't know what will happen, because I am so weak right now, but anything that I can do..."

I felt Mary's power flow into me. Her hand became limp in mine and her body suddenly became ice-cold, despite the warm summer night. "Mary!" I screamed. Another shot rang out; this time, the fire started from my left shoulder. I heard the angry voices of the townspeople coming closer. I tried to move, but found that I lacked the strength to get up.

Mary was dead. And, in a few moments... I would be, too.

I blacked out.

* * *

When I came to, I was lying in somebody's corn field. What an odd place to dump a witch, I thought blankly. I sat up and realized that I was not wearing a thing. I also realized that there was no hole in either my chest nor my shoulder. Not even a pink scar.

What had happened? Where was I?

I pushed my way out of the corn field and wandered onto the path. I started walking along, hoping to run into somebody soon.

"Whoa there!" I hadn't even seen the guy on the carriage. His horses were spooked, but I generally got that reaction with many animals. The man jumped down and wrapped me in a horse blanket. "What happened? Are you okay?"

"I... I do not know."

"What's your name, honey? Where are your parents?"

"My... my parents?" I was 18 years old! Why did this man ask for my mother and father as if I were a child?

"Come on, then. You are clearly addled in the head, child. I best take you home. If not for the more gentle touch of my wife, then at least to get you some clothes and food. Okay?"

"Um, okay." I didn't want to go back into town wearing a horse blanket, so what other choice did I have? The man helped me onto his carriage and we rode for another mile until we reached his farm house.

"Good heavens! Where ever did you find this poor child?" the man's wife asked as soon as we pulled up to the house.

"Found her out about a mile that way," he told her, pointing his thumb back the way we'd come. "Musta come out of the corn fields."  
"Come in, child! I think I have an old dress of my daughter's still. She just turned 16, but she's a pretty small child."

"I'm not certain that it would fit," I told the woman.

"Don't be silly, child! Of course it'll fit you! You're tiny!" I frowned. I wasn't exactly large, but I wasn't small, either. And, if anything else, I was proud of my rather large...

I suddenly looked down and something clicked in my mind. The reason why they were calling me child and asking about my parents. And why the woman was trying to put me in the dress of her daughter.

The mature, curvy body that I had come to love the past few years was suddenly gone. And worst of all, gone were my giant breasts. I flushed and silently allowed the woman to pull the dress on me. It was way too big on me.

"Now, then, where are you from, sweetie?"

"Norwich."

"Why, that's nearly three days travel from here!"

"I have to get back! My... mother..." But, Mary was dead. The townspeople had killed her.

"Of course, dear! It's getting quite late, but in the morning, my husband will take you into town. I'm sure someone there is heading in that general direction! Now, the most important question. What is your name, child?"

I opened my mouth, ready to tell her Jeanette. But then I paused. Even if Mary and I kept to ourselves, we were still somewhat known. Who knew if these kindly farmers would suddenly kick me out after learning my name.

"Mary. My name is Mary." And, just like that, I assumed my first identity aside from the one I'd been born with.

I spent the night with the kind farm family and set out for the town first thing in the morning. A man told me that he, his wife, and three children were heading out towards Norwich and I was welcome to join them.

That night, while the family was sleeping, I rifled through their things, hoping to find a surface that was reflective enough to show me what I looked like. I found a pot that was just a little bit dusty, wiped it off and looked at myself.

Jeanette, age eleven, stared back at me.

What in the world had Mary done to me? She'd meant to save me, right? Not trap an eighteen-year-old girl in the body of an eleven-year-old? Right?

Right?

I kept my misery in the back of my mind until we reached Norwich. I didn't want to say anything to the kind family who was giving me a lift.

Once we reached the town, I promised them that I had family, and that they shouldn't worry about me. Once they were gone, I quickly made my way to the cottage in the woods that Mary and I lived in for so many years.

It was completely over grown and half-hidden. Half of the roof was missing. I hadn't been gone that long, had I? And even if this was the work of another witch, I would feel the magic residue. However, there was none to be felt. This was the work of time and only time.

I stormed back to town, ready to kill the people who killed Mary, who in turn, in an attempt to save me, trapped me inside the body of an eleven year old.

Only, I had no clue who it was that night.

* * *

I walked away from the town where I grew up in, the town that killed me because I was born differently.

I vowed to become a better person than they could ever be.

I vowed it on Mary's grave.


	2. Chapter 1

As always, if you spot any errors, please let me know, as this is unedited. –Kitty

* * *

July, 1991

I awoke with a start. I was naked in an alleyway in London. It was dark, and I seemed to be lying in a pile of garbage. I sat up, clutching at my chest.

Or rather, lack there-of.

For you see, after many years had passed, I started to see what Mary had done to me that fateful night. In an attempt to save my life, Mary tried to put a spell on me that would revert me to a time when I was not wounded. But, in her own wounded state, she messed up. Every time I turned 18, I would revert back to the state of an eleven-year-old. I would awaken several weeks later, naked, in an area several hundred miles of where I had been.

It was getting rather old.

But, even though my body was reset, didn't mean my mind or powers were. I had grown even stronger throughout the many hundred years that I'd been alive.

I got up, brushed myself off and had just finished transforming a garbage bag into a dress to wear until I could get to the place I called home when someone came into the mouth of the alleyway, blocking my light.

"Are you Jeanette?"

"Heh," I chuckled. "I haven't heard that name in a very long time." The man stepped forward and handed me a letter.

"We can help you here."

"What? What is this?"

"It's all explained in there. Including instructions on how to get there. I can't stay for long, because my movements are being closely monitored. Good luck, Jeanette. Or should I say, Paige?" And then he was gone.

I put the envelope in my pocket and used a quick teleportation spell to bring me back to the place where I currently called home. I moved around a lot, and I'd likely have to move again, now that I'd had my eighteenth birthday. Or should I say, my eleventh birthday?

I didn't want to think about that just now, however. I sat down on my warn sofa and broke the wax seal on the back of the envelope. I pulled out the absurd amount of papers within and started with the first one.

Dear Ms. Lane,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

I knew that magic was becoming more and more accepted. I just didn't know that there were schools that existed to teach young witches such as myself.

Well, maybe not so much "like myself", but rather, people who were born with a talent like I was.

After all, if my life had gone on without the curse Mary had put me under, I would have likely gotten married, had a child or five, and taught them magic from my home, like Mary had taught me.

But, why get a letter to this school now? I'd gone through...

I quickly counted on my fingers, lost track when I hit fifty, then had to re-count again.

...Eighty-two cycles of my curse.

That didn't seem right. I was born in 1399...

And I spent seven years alive before I was was "reborn" as an eleven year old...

I redid my math, this time on a scrap of paper. Yes. I was right the first time.

But why did they want me to attend now?

I read through the rest of the stuff. There was a list of things to bring, a rather long dress code, as well as directions on how to get to the place that sold the things that I would need (well, it wasn't so much that I was in need of a cauldron or a wand, but that I would need the books) and how to get to the train that would take me to the school.

There was also a note that told me that I would need to exchange money for the money that the wizards used, and explained how the wizarding money system worked. It seemed more confusing than it was worth, but if I was going to go to this school, I would probably get used to it, though. Then, finally, the thing that I was looking for.

Dear Ms. Paige Lane,

I won't tell you my name, as, like I said in the alleyway, I am being closely watched. My masters have likely already found me and I am being punished for seeking you out as we speak. Do not worry about me, however; I am fine.

I would like for you to go to Hogwarts. You are nothing but an eleven-year-old girl. You will act like one. I know you have the means to go to Diagon Alley, as well as purchase your supplies, which is why I did not risk accompanying you there myself.

I will contact you again once you have settled in at Hogwarts with more details and a longer explanation of why I have asked you to go to Hogwarts.

Good luck and God bless.

There was likely some sort of hidden agenda there, but I wouldn't know anything until I went to Hogwarts. I undressed, transformed the dress back into a trash bag and got into bed. I would likely have an exciting day tomorrow.

* * *

Diagon Alley wasn't too hard to find from the directions the mysterious stranger had given me. I had a wand after all. Once I was in the magical community, I suddenly felt at home. I should have tried to seek out the local community centuries ago, rather than try and make it on my own.

Oh! There was so much to take in! I felt like I needed fifty more sets of eyes just to take everything in! But, before I could buy anything, I located Gringotts so that I could exchange my pounds for wizarding money.

That done, I set out to the book store, since the only thing I was really lacking were the text books as well as the school uniform. As I looked at the books on display, I felt like my education as a witch had slowed considerably since Mary had died. There was much I didn't know.

But, I had to remind myself constantly. I was an eleven-year-old girl. Nothing more. It would be suspicious if I bought the entire store. So, I only bought the required materials, then went to the dress shop. I bought a few uniforms, knowing very well that these would likely be worn for many, many years. Especially with my curse. Hopefully, the Hogwarts uniform wouldn't change too much over the years, if I was going to be attending the school a lot.

Now that I had purchased the things I most needed, I wandered up and down Diagon alley, taking in the sights. It was wonderful, being amongst people. I didn't need to hide who I was and people hardly gave me a second glance as I walked by.

When I walked by the shop that sold wands, I then realized how outdated my wand education was. I had at least fifteen different wands, all made from different woods. Each one was used for casting different spells under different conditions and I made a new one when the natural power of an older one ran out.

However, it seemed as though witches had simplified wand magic into only needing one wand, which was pretty much used for the rest of the witches life. I should buy one.

I stepped into the store.

Fifteen minutes later, I left with a new wand. Eleven inches, oak with a core of unicorn hair. Quite sturdy. I was exceptionally pleased with my purchase.

I continued walking around. I came to the pet store. The list of supplies said that it was optional to bring a familiar with me to the school. But, if I wanted to have another pet, I'd befriend one of the hundreds of stray cats in my neighborhood! Why would I buy a pet from a pet store? It seemed unfair to the strays that I should support the cushioned life of a cat who was born and raised never knowing hunger or pain.

I quickly moved on, angry at the world. I came to the candy store. Of course I had to buy some candies! Despite everything, I still loved sweet things. I entered and bought as much as I could hold.

After I left the candy store, I realized that I was going to need a trunk to carry all of my school supplies in. I purchased one, and then left for home. I had an entire year of school to obtain more things, so I should save my money now.

Once I was back home, I looked at the letter instructing me to go to King's Cross Station on the first of September. It was now the end of July, so I had a bit over a month to wait until the term started. I could hardly wait!


End file.
